Page 155 of Now and Then

She presses her hand over my heart, eyes never leaving mine.

Life threw us some curves, but I’ll always be grateful that somehow, some way, they led us right here.

Her tears fall like rain. I kiss each one away. She whispers my name as she falls apart beneath me, and I’m right there with her.

Sweat beads at my temples, my neck warm from the sun. The power auger roars to life as Luke maneuvers it, digging the final hole for the footings.

I’m sure Sutton is dying to know what all the noise is, but she’s going to have to wait until Christmas to see the finished product. It had been important to me to build this myself, but finishing it with her brother? I’m okay with that.

“You know,” Luke grunts, wiping sweat from his brow. “You could have waited until the ground was less frozen. It would have been a lot easier to dig these footings.”

“You’ll survive,” I mutter.

Luke snorts and cuts the auger.

Silence settles over the yard except for the wind moving through the trees.

He steps back, eyeing the posts we’ve sunk into the ground. “You really did all this by yourself?”

“Mostly. I’ve still got a lot of work to do on it, but it’ll have to wait until I get this thing off.” I hold up my cast.

His eyes travel from the frame to the swing seat resting in pieces nearby. “Pretty impressive, man.”

I shrug, grabbing the toolbox with my good hand. “She’s always wanted one.”

Luke watches for a second longer than usual. “You know she’s going to cry, right?’

“I mean, that’s kind of the whole point.” A slow grin spreads across my face.

He glances toward the house. “You nervous about the open house tomorrow?”

I follow his gaze.

Through the kitchen window, I see Sutton moving around, her silhouette passing behind the curtains. “Not one bit,” I say.

“Why not?”

“Because this is Sutton we’re talking about. She’s done an amazing job with this house and built it into something people will remember.”

Luke nods once. “Yeah, she did.” He claps me on the shoulder. “Alright, Romeo. What’s next? We’ve still got a few hours of daylight left.”

Luke and I work side by side for the rest of the afternoon, finishing projects on the back porch that have been difficult for me to do with one hand. A couple of times, the curtains shift, and I wonder if Sutton’s taking a peek.

I almost laugh, imagining the way her curiosity must be eating her alive.

Tomorrow, the house will be full of people coming to see what she’s built.

But Christmas morning . . . Christmas morning will be about the space I created just for us.

By the time the first vehicle pulls into the driveway the next afternoon, it feels like half the town follows behind it.

I lean against the kitchen island, nursing a beer Luke shoved in my hand twenty minutes ago, and watch people filter through the front door in waves. It’s odd that so many people are here on a Wednesday evening. Then again, this town is nosy as hell.

Laughter drifts through the living room. Someone already asks about the wood used for the cabinets.

Sutton moves through it all like she’s done this a hundred times. She looks gorgeous in black straight-leg jeans, a cream cable-knit sweater, and her signature pumps.

She greets each person with that mega-watt smile of hers, answering questions, pointing out design choices, laughing when someone inevitably asks why the curtains to the back of the house are closed.